NM Game Dept. Balks
At Chicken Listing

ALBUQUERQUE — The New Mexico Game Commission is waiting until they have more information before declaring the lesser prairie chicken a "threatened" species in the Land of Enchantment.

The director of the New Mexico Department of Game and Fish asked the game commission recently to list the lesser prairie chicken as "threatened" under the state's Wildlife Conservation Act.

"They voted to table the proposal until they could get more information," says Callie Gnatkowski with the New Mexico Cattle Growers Association.

San Jon rancher Bob Frost, president of the cattle growers, earlier had a called such a proposal premature. The listing could affect landowner cooperation in protecting the species, says Frost.

The New Mexico Cattle Growers asked for a delay in considering the lesser prairie chicken as endangered due to the lack of scientific data, explains Caren Cowan, executive secretary of the NMCGA.

Cowan says the state game and fish department has done only roadside surveys for the past year from public roads. She insists at least four years of data is needed to establish population estimates. Surveys the Bureau of Land Management has done provide an index, not a population estimate, she says.

The available data may be unreliable due to changing weather patterns across eastern New Mexico over the past year, Cowan adds. There is also a question as to whether agriculture may play a part in diminishing populations of the bird.

The Department of Game and Fish is reportedly planning to hire a biologist to study the prairie chicken.

"I understand that the commission wanted to wait until that biologist can get here and learn about the issue before they make any decisions," Gnatkowski says.

If the commission had accepted the director's proposal, it would have started a seven-month process which requires a public hearing in the quadrant of the state that would be affected by the listing.

"We were sure happy with the commission's decision," Gnatkowski says.